Here's a breakdown of the action from the latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown:
- Joe Hendry def. The Miz in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight
- Charlotte Flair def. Lash Legend via pinfall
- Carmelo Hayes def. Ilja Dragunov via pinfall to win the United States Championship
- Giulia & Kiana James def. Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre via pinfall
Let's dive into the details of each match and the major storylines that unfolded.
Joe Hendry's Christmas Miracle
Joe Hendry had a Christmas themed concert where he outright said The Miz has tiny balls, when he’s in a team he takes all the falls, and he’d rather be in Hollywood but they won’t return his calls. The A-Lister interrupts Joe Henry’s special SmackDown holiday celebration. Miz tried to return fire with a passionate promo about being the new locker room leader with John Cena gone.
After The Miz ruined Joe Hendry's Christmas Spectacular, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis changed the scheduled match between Joe Hendry and The Miz into a Miracle on 34th Street Fight. Instead, they booked a Miracle on 34th Street Fight - a tradition in WWE - and Miz found himself humiliated by not just Hendry but Santa (Otis), an elf (Akira Tozawa), and the Easter Bunny (R-Truth) too.
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Hendry and Miz brought all the holiday weapons, including a tiny violin and a small pair of ornaments. Eventually, Hendry battered The A-Lister with a Christmas tree before connecting with a huge fallaway slam. On the outside, an elf-costumed Akira Tozawa tried to give some holiday cookies to The Awesome One, but this enraged The Miz, who blasted Tozawa in the face with a big boot. Hendry gifted Miz some candy cane Kendo stick strikes before sending him back into the ring.
Tozawa, Hendry, a Christmas-outfitted Otis and an Easter Bunny surrounded Miz, taking turns beating down The A-Lister. The Easter Bunny was revealed to be R-Truth, who hit a Five Knuckle Shuffle on his former tag team partner. Hendry nailed a Standing Ovation through a table to win the match. It was a fun comedy match, entirely worth the time they devoted to it.
Charlotte Flair vs. Lash Legend
Charlotte Flair takes on Lash Legend in an intriguing first-time matchup. After defeating Alexa Bliss a few weeks ago, Lash Legend took on Charlotte Flair. Flair nailed a moonsault, but Legend kicked out after Flair used an unorthodox cover. Bliss attacked Nia Jax on the outside after Jax attempted to interfere in the match. This distracted Legend, as The Queen rolled her up to win.
Charlotte Flair beat Lash Legend in a fairly standard match that saw their teammates interfere but Alexa Bliss do one better than Nia Jax. They still had the babyfaces need to win via rollup. Legend got some needed main roster experience here.
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This was a solid match, and probably the best for Legend on the main roster to date. Flair allowed her to control most of the action, and it helped showcase the newcomer to the blue brand.
Carmelo Hayes Captures United States Championship
Carmelo Hayes challenges Ilja Dragunov for the United States Championship. Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov again battled after their clash from a few weeks ago ended in a no-contest when Solo Sikoa and The MFTs invaded the bout. I’ll be damned if Carmelo Hayes didn’t go and do it, defeating Ilja Dragunov to win the United States championship in what was predictably an awesome match.
Dragunov went for the H-Bomb, but Hayes connected with a huge enzuigiri before nailing a flying DDT. The Mad Dragon blasted Hayes with the Constantine Special and an enormous senton. Hayes countered a superplex from Dragunov into an awesome cutter, but The Mad Dragon kicked out as the WWE Universe erupted into a "this is awesome" chant. Dragunov looked to end the match when he destroyed Hayes with a death valley driver onto the apron.
When Hayes went up for Nothing But Net, the entirety of the crowd was on their feet, eager to see him pull it out. Considering the way he’s been booked since joining the main roster there was reason to believe he would fall short. Melo didn’t miss this time. Hayes somehow connected with the First 48 before executing Nothing But Net to win the United States Title. After, Dragunov showed proper respect, taking the title from the referee and wrapping it around the new champion’s waist himself, putting him over huge before leaving the ring. This was awesome all the way around. And then friggin’ Johnny Gargano laid Hayes out backstage.
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Just like their previous encounter, both men were clearly looking to prove they are among the best WWE has on the roster. Even though they are friendly backstage, neither man held back and made this a hard-fought contest right away. The Mad Dragon seemed to have control a bit more in the first half, but Hayes began making headway after the break. He countered the H-Bomb with a jumping kick and hit a springboard DDT as he began building momentum. The crowd chanted "This is awesome" as they went into the second break.
Ilja Dragunov just doesn't know how not to put on bangers, but this time he lost. Stunningly, the champion was dethroned by one Carmelo Hayes, with whom he teamed last week. That's wishful thinking, but exactly what should happen. As for the match itself, I mean, my God - it was perhaps Dragunov's best yet, and some of the late-match sequences were absurd.
This was an outstanding match that had just as much physicality as their last encounter, but this time they benefited from having a clean finish. The champion put up a good fight, but Melo didn't miss this time.
Giulia & Kiana James vs. Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre
Giulia teams with Kiana James to take on Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre. Giulia & Kiana James scored a win over Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre in a program that’s about to start getting a lot more time when they move to three hours.
We got an interesting women's tag match this week with Giulia and James taking on Green and Fyre. What made it interesting is that both teams are heels right now, so there was no babyface team for the crowd to cheer for by default. Even though they operate as villains, Green's popularity led to her and Fyre getting more cheers than their opponents. We knew this match wouldn't last too long since we still had a segment with Rhodes and McIntyre left on the show, so it was no surprise to see them jump right into the action instead of easing into it.
James looked good against Green and Fyre in the opening minutes. She has always been a great athlete whose booking did not line up with her skills. In fact, she may have outshined Giulia in this match a bit, but that was mostly because she spent more time in the ring. When you consider that they didn't have a ton of time, this ended up being a pretty decent match. They kept the pace quick while still managing to throw in some taunts and submissions. Giulia ended up getting the pin on the United States champion, which will likely lead to another rematch between them in the near future.
It's kind of sad to think about how much momentum Giulia has lost since coming to the main roster. champion felt underwhelming, which is not her fault. She just hasn't had the kind of booking she needs.
Rhodes vs. McIntyre: Three Stages of Hell
Drew McIntyre announces that he will challenge Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell Match on the Jan. 9 edition of SmackDown in Berlin. It was just one week ago that SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis told WWE Champion Cody Rhodes that he cut a bad deal with Drew McIntyre - if the top contender to the title came back and apologized to referee Dan Engler and paid a hefty fine, he would receive a championship match with a stipulation of his choosing. To be clear, Rhodes couldn’t lay a finger on McIntyre in the meantime or he would be stripped of the title. The champ responded to this by claiming he’s above the law.
Rhodes struggled to control his emotions while waiting for McIntyre to show up and make things official, complaining at various points in the evening before DM Hunk finally arrived for the main event, sporting that shit eating grin of his. He did indeed deliver on paying the fine, and then he stood in the middle of the ring and apologized to the referee for hitting him in the face with a Claymore. He even seemed genuine about it!
Aldis was shocked! Appreciative, even! “I also apologize that it was obviously your dream to be a wrestler doing what I do, former world champion, but you weren’t good enough so you had to be a referee.” Ha. I love this guy so very, very much. McIntyre then got personal, saying he was sorry Engler’s wife had to watch that while fantasizing about having a husband like McIntyre. He even apologized to the man’s children for having such a coward, corporate stooge for a father.
Before he could get poor Dan to go off the deep end and slug him, Rhodes showed up eager to blast the guy. But he couldn’t. He would lose his title, remember? So McIntyre did the same thing he did to Engler, egging him on. He got personal too, real personal. He said he wished Cody’s children could see a real man put the boots to him and his wife, Brandy, could see what a real daddy looks like. Still, Rhodes wouldn’t fire away.
McIntyre told him they would be doing a Three Stages of Hell match in Berlin, Germany and Cody wasted no time agreeing to it. Before signing off, McIntyre left him with one last verbal shot - “When I send you straight to hell, say hi to your dad for me.” Aldis was pulling Cody away before he could even react. He eventually elbowed the GM off his shoulders before turning around into a Claymore and they ended the show with the challenger standing tall. They’ll settle up in two weeks overseas. This ruled.
This week's show ended with a segment involving McIntyre and Rhodes. If McIntyre apologized to the ref he attacked and paid a fine, he would get to choose the time and stipulation for his next title shot against The American Nightmare. McIntyre issued a half-hearted apology to the ref he kicked, but then he insulted him by saying he wasn't good enough to be a wrestler and that is why he became a referee. Rhodes was goaded into coming to the ring and McIntyre dared him to take a shot and cost himself the title. The show ended with McIntyre hitting a Claymore before picking up the WWE title and posing with it.
Before all that, however, McIntyre made Rhodes look like the clown in their face-to-face when Drew made the announcement of their match Friday night. The Scotsman antagonized and attempted to get Rhodes to hit him, cutting a devilishly excellent heel promo. The match will be a "Three Stages of Hell" match on "SmackDown" in Berlin, Germany, two weeks from now.
This segment went as expected, but not in a bad way. McIntyre did a great job playing the jerk who was trying to get under his opponent's skin.
Here's a summary of key moments in the Rhodes-McIntyre rivalry:
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| Aldis's Deal | McIntyre gets a title shot if he apologizes and pays a fine. |
| McIntyre's Apology | A sarcastic apology filled with personal insults. |
| Three Stages of Hell | The chosen match stipulation in Berlin. |
| Claymore | McIntyre lays out Rhodes to end the show. |
EXCLUSIVE: Cody Rhodes unleashes a home invasion on Drew McIntyre
Other Happenings
- Aleister Black and Damian Priest are still getting vignettes and story videos where they try to get over at each other’s expense. They’re finally going to end this thing next week in an Ambulance Match.
- Trick Williams is making his way to the main roster, and he was here to talk business with Nick Aldis, claiming Adam Pearce was ready to throw him a fat check to be on Monday Night Raw. He even went so far as to get in Cody Rhodes’ face to try to establish himself as a new contender. The champ didn’t necessarily take him seriously but he didn’t entirely dismiss him either.
- And then friggin’ Johnny Gargano laid Hayes out backstage.
- Michin & B-Fab spoke backstage, saying they did not respect Cargill.Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab all cut promos on each other backstage. The mind legitimately can't stop being boggled by WWE taking this route for the first extended program of Cargill's title run.
WWE delivered its last "SmackDown" of 2025 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, sending fans home happy with some fun Christmas themes and an even more fun title match.